Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Friday 15 October 1999

Scottish Executive

Business

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what work has been undertaken to collate information on the number of employee owned businesses in Scotland.

Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive currently has no specific plans to collate information on the number of employee owned businesses in Scotland.

  However, data were published in a Scottish Office Statistics Bulletin in November 1998 on the number of enterprises operating in Scotland in 1997 broken down by industry and employee sizeband. These data give a clear estimate of the number of enterprises run by self-employed people with no employees and those run by partnerships who don’t have any employees (199,555 in total). This data will be updated for 1998 at the end of this year by the Scottish Executive.

Community Care

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the outcome of its deliberations on the recommendations made by the Royal Commission on Long Term Care.

Iain Gray: We are considering the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care and will respond as soon as possible.

Education

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to publish the report Scottish Culture in the Curriculum.

Mr Sam Galbraith: I have received advice from the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum based on responses to their recent consultation paper , The School Curriculum and the Culture of Scotland , and will respond shortly. I have placed copies of the consultation paper in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Education

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it will make to ensure payment is made immediately to the 60 students at the Galashiels Heriot-Watt campus who have not yet received their loan cheques.

Henry McLeish: The Student Awards Agency for Scotland is currently processing the vast majority of properly completed applications within its target of 28 days from the date of receipt and is passing the necessary information on loans to the Student Loans Company Limited. Neither the Agency nor the Company is aware of any particular problem relating to students attending the Galashiels Heriot-Watt campus, although some recently received applications will still be in the course of being dealt with.

  If there are individual cases of particular difficulty, the Chief Executive of the Agency will be happy to make enquiries on receipt of the relevant details.

  Students who are experiencing financial difficulty because their loan cheque is not available can seek temporary help from the University’s Access Funds.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the rules governing the membership of Local Enterprise Company Boards precludes the appointment of anyone who is a director of a lobbying company.

Henry McLeish: No.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the board members of all the Local Enterprise Companies in Scotland and their political affiliation.

Henry McLeish: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise and I have asked the Chairmen to write to you.

Finance

Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what conclusions it has reached on the budget submissions from Aberdeenshire, East Dunbartonshire and Perth and Kinross Councils.

Mr Jack McConnell: I have considered the 3 submissions carefully. Although I appreciate the information provided by each Council, I am still not persuaded that the level of spending above guideline by the 3 councils is justified. It has already been announced that no council will be capped this year; any future capping decisions will be taken following consideration of all the relevant factors which obtain at that time. However I have today indicated to Aberdeenshire and Perth and Kinross Councils that I will expect them to return to their expenditure guideline within the next year. I have indicated to East Dunbartonshire Council that I will expect them to return to their guideline within at the latest the next 2 years.

Health

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-555 by Susan Deacon on 29 July 1999, whether a decision has yet been made on the future of orthoptic education in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: No decision has yet been made on this issue.

Health

Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take in support of the international campaign to bring epilepsy ‘out of the shadows’.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive Health Department will be meeting the costs of a conference on this very theme to be held by the Epilepsy Association Scotland in Dundee on 3 November 1999. I have accepted an invitation to deliver the opening address.

Health

Alex Fergusson (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what effects the draft Dairy Products (Hygiene) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 would have, if enacted, on the Scottish farmhouse cheesemaking industry.

Susan Deacon: It is not envisaged that the draft Dairy Products (Hygiene) (Scotland) Regulations 1999, if enacted, would have a significant effect on the Scottish farmhouse cheesemaking industry.

Water

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to take to improve the standards of water quality in Scotland and within what timescale it intends to implement these measures.

Sarah Boyack: Our Partnership for Scotland statement aims for steady improvements in water quality, targeting all Scotland’s beaches to meet clean water standards by 2005.

  On environmental water, we are considering, with Scottish Environment Protection Agency, measures to tackle agricultural and industrial pollution. Over the next 3 years the Scottish water authorities will oversee investment in water and sewerage infrastructure of around £1.7bn. A substantial part of this will be aimed at waste water treatment, in particular to comply with the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.

  The new EU Drinking Water Directive sets tight standards for drinking water the majority of which are required to be met by December 2003. Under certain circumstances the Directive allows for the derogation of standards for up to 3 years. The Scottish Executive will obtain legally binding undertakings from the Scottish water authorities to ensure that they meet the new standards by the required dates.